Shoe and gaiter-boot



ITE STATES 'PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH BRACKETT, OF SWAMPSCOTT, MASSACHUSETTS.

SHOE AND GAITER-BOOT.

Specification of Letters Patent No.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, JOSEPH BRACKETT, of Swampscott, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Shoes or Gaiter-Boots, as they are sometimes termed; and I do hereby declare t-hat the same is fully described and represented in the following specification and the accompanying drawings, let-ters, figures, and references thereof.

Of the said drawings, Figure 1 denotes a top view of a gaiter boot or shoe made in my improved manner. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a perspective View of it as it appears when unbuttoned.

My improvement consists in making the gaiter boot or shoe with a lap piece a, separate from the quarters b, c, and extended up from the instep or front (Z, and securing'the quarters together by the lap piece, the said lap piece being connected to both quarters by buttons e, e, and button holes f, f', hooks and eyes or their equivalents, the button holes being made in the lap piece so that the latter may button or lap over the quarters.

I am aware that it is customary to make a shoe with a tongue extended up from the instep and made to pass under the quarters, while the latter are lapped over it, and are connected together by lacings or clasps; but my improvement differs essentially from this latter, as the lap piece a thereof serves not only to cover the space between the two quarters, but to unite or connect the quarters together. It makes a very beautiful finish to a ladys gaiter boot or shoe, and has the great advantage of rendering it very open and easy to put on when the lap piece is unbuttoned as represented in Fig. 3.

A gaiter boot or shoe made on my improved plan can be put and fastened on the foot in far less time than can a lacing gaiter boot of the ordinary kind.

I am also aware that a gaiter boot or shoe has been made with one long slit or opening extending down on one side of the middle of the instep or down the quarter and fastened by buttons when closed. The difference between my invention and this is so perceptible as to require no description, as it is one advantage of my invention to get rid of such long opening down the instep, as it is an injury to the appearance of the shoe. Be-

sides when there is but one such opening 9,280, dated September 28, 1852.

down the quarter the boot or shoe cannot be put on to advantage without having its top.

part made so much larger than the ankle as to fit badly thereon, whereas a boot made on my improved plan can be made to closely fit to t-he ankle and present the fine fit of the ordinary lacing gaiter shoe.

In regard to such shoes or boots as are made with a tongue extending up the instep and passing under the quarters while the latter are lapped over it and fastened by lacings or clasps, my improvement differs essentially from them, as in them, where the quarters fasten there is a space between such quarters, which space necessarily collects dust and dirt, while the quarters lapping on the outside of the vamp destroy the beauty of the front view of the boot. In my improvement the quarters are made to lap under the vamp, while the latter laps over and buttons to the quarters, thereby presenting the beautiful unbroken front of the side lace gaiter boot, and being not liable to collect dust and dirt as when the quarters are made to pass outside.

The advantages of my improvement over the side lace gaiter boot are, that it renders a shoe much easier to be put on and to be more quickly fastened and unfastened, and when fastened is perfectly secure, while the side lace gaiter boot is very liable to get unfastened; this latter is a very great inconvenience, especially if it happen in the streets of cities or thickly settled places as all must be aware.

My improvement can also be Vapplied to gent-lemens as well as ladies gaiter boots and with equal advantage. It has also the advantage of admitting the use of any style of boxing, however high or low, which the side laced gaiter will not, as where the boxing passes below the lacing it must necessarily be very low. Again, the side laced gaiter must always be worn on the same foot, it being necessary that the lacing should come on the inside of the foot; my improvement admits of the boot being worn upon either foot at the pleasure of the wearer.

My said invention has also a very great advantage in the manufacture of ladies snow boots which are made of thick cloth and are designed to be water proof. For this reason they are lined with rubber cloth. They are now cut with a long slit down the instep which carries the opening low down on the foot, consequently the rubber lining cannot be carried above the lower part of the opening which is just above the toe points. My improvement will admit of the rubber lining being carried to the top of the instep, thereby rendering the boots more serviceable and much better adapted to the purpose for which they were intended.

I/Vhat I claim as my invention is- The improved gaiter boot or shoe as made l vwith a lap piece separate from both the quarters, and extended up from the instep part of it, in combination with so applying JOSEPH BRACKETT.

Witnesses:

R. H. EDDY, Gr. W. CUTLER. 

